Trial Run

I finished reading (or I suppose I should say re-reading, even though it's been years) Trial Run a couple of days ago. It definitely does a good job of describing the features of Moscow, although it is set back in the days of the USSR (shortly before the Moscow Olympics), and obviously life in Moscow has changed substantially changed since then. Having never been to the Soviet Union, I cannot comment on how accurate Francis's descriptions of life in that era were; however, the physical descriptions of the city of Moscow are pretty spot-on. I wonder if Francis actually visited the city while researching this novel? Unfortunately, the one thing that I was certain was referenced in this book, the Soviet-era, state-run radios which never shut off (one of which lives in my kitchen and currently broadcasts Radio Rossiya 24/7), was not in this book. I'm thinking now that it might have been in Russian Journal, a non-fictional account of life in Russia from a foreigner's perspective, set during the same time frame. Damn. Nonetheless, Trial Run is great (a nice, fast-paced, well-written Dick Francis mystery), and if you enjoy mysteries and are interested in Moscow/Russia/USSR/CCCP/etc, I definitely recommend this book.

Anyhow, I would like to quote this one passage, simply for that woman who didn't believe me when I when I was unable to produce a last name for my former roommate, Alyosha:

"Alyosha is a man's name. A diminutive. Like Dickie for Richard. Alyosha is a familiar version of Alexei."
["...."]
"How many Alyoshas in Moscow?"
"How many Dickies in London? The two cities are roughly the same size."